Why you should be leaving voicemails

I recently had a discussion with a few salespeople who attended one of my courses. It staggered me how few of them actually utilized the power of voicemail. This post will give you an insight into why you should leave them and how to master leaving voicemails to prospective customers/clients.

Voicemails are a great way of getting callbacks

There are mountains of research out there showing that every time you leave a message, the probability of getting a callback will go up by more than 10%! The more voicemails you leave, the more likely the person is to call you back. In addition, people who call you back won’t have the excuse “I don’t have time for this, I’m at XYZ”.

A person in an office leaving a voicemail.

It’s another touching point

Even if your prospective client or customer misses or ignores your call, leaving a voicemail will allow you to still make some contact. The more information you can get in the voice message while keeping it relatively short, the better. You need to aim for name recognition and urgency while keeping the message friendly and professional.

It adds a potentially lucrative edge to your sales

A massive eighty percent of salespeople neglect the leaving of voicemails apparently. Perhaps this is an easy addition to your selling which could mean the difference between you making your targets, and not.

It adds urgency to your cold calling

Voicemails scream urgency. These days most people just hang up if the person doesn’t answer. It’s usually an important professional message when you dial your voicemail. Leaving a number of messages could easily land you with several more sales.

A phone with the voicemail button glowing red.

Now you know why to leave a voicemail, it’s time to learn how!

How to use voicemail to sell.

Always remember the ultimate aim of a voicemail; to get them to call you back. Displaying a positive impression is also an obvious plus. Essentially, think of it like this. A voicemail is like a CV. The CV will get you to the interview phase. The interview will get you the job. Voicemails should intrigue and entice someone to want to talk to you, just like a CV.

  1. Try writing scripts with variations such as tone and greeting phrase, then name the scripts. After each voicemail you leave, make sure you get the message logged in your CRM under the name you’ve given each script. You’ll then, over time, have data to see which script is working and which is failing.
  2. Why are you interested in them? What can you do for them? If you can give figures to reinforce this information it’s a plus. “I see you’re using a Microsoft Windows computer and we saved Natwest £500k last month.” Never try and sell a product or service directly in a voicemail. Sell achievements, sell why you’re interested in them so it doesn’t sound like a generic sales call where you’ve cast the net wide.
  3. Keep it short. Introduction, why you’re interested in them, what you can do for them, your number, bye.
  4. Introduce yourself and always use the prospects first name. Names are powerful whether you realize it or not. They convey a sense of knowing someone. You should always use your name twice for increased recall.
  5. Don’t ramble. If you’re prone to this, see point 1. Stay on track and you’ll see results.
  6. Depending on the potential value of the sale, vary the number of messages you leave before getting a callback. If the value is large, keep leaving voice mails till you get to around 8 messages. Then it’s probably time to leave it.
  7. Promote urgency. “I’ve got a great opportunity I don’t want you to miss out on”. You could combine this with point 2.
  8. Don’t overdo it. When you go oCastleoard on your claims and offers you can sound desperate.
  9. Be aware of your tone- If you’re calling people 1000 times a day it can be draining. If you feel like you’re tired and worn out, have a break. Have a quick walk around the office, stretch your legs, or have a coffee. A short break could be all you need to re-energize yourself and come back stronger.
  10. Make sure you give your phone number in an organized way. Don’t say it at 100mph. Break it up. The aim is to make it as easy to remember as possible. Nobody wants to have to listen to the voicemail again to get the number straight.